Basic Instinct (1992)

A police detective is in charge of the investigation of a brutal murder, in which a beautiful and seductive woman could be involved.

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writer:

Joe Eszterhas

Stars:

Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Detective Nick Curran
Sharon Stone	...	Catherine Tramell
George Dzundza	...	Gus
Jeanne Tripplehorn	...	Dr. Beth Garner
Denis Arndt	...	Lieutenant Walker
Leilani Sarelle	...	Roxy
Bruce A. Young	...	Andrews
Chelcie Ross	...	Captain Talcott
Dorothy Malone	...	Hazel Dobkins
Wayne Knight	...	John Correli
Daniel von Bargen	...	Lieutenant Nilsen (as Daniel Von Bargen)
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Dr. Lamott
Benjamin Mouton	...	Harrigan
Jack McGee	...	Sheriff
Bill Cable	...	Johnny Boz

Storyline

A former rock star, Johnny Boz, is brutally killed during sex, and the case is assigned to detective Nick Curran of the SFPD. During the investigation, Nick meets Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist who was Boz's girlfriend when he died. Catherine proves to be a very clever and manipulative woman, and though Nick is more or less convinced that she murdered Boz, he is unable to find any evidence. Later, when Nilsen, Nick's rival in the police, is killed, Nick suspects of Catherine's involvement in it. He then starts to play a dangerous lust-filled mind game with Catherine to nail her, but as their relationship progresses, the body count rises and contradicting evidences force Nick to start questioning his own suspicions about Catherine's guilt.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | suspect | rock star | murder | police | 

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Taglines:

A brutal murder. A brilliant killer. A cop who can't resist the danger.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and sensuality, and for drug use and language

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love Hurts

Filming Locations:

1158 Montgomery Street, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$117,727,224 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min 128 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR LC-Concept Digital Sound (France)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer Joe Eszterhas and producer Irwin Winkler walked off the picture after failing to reach agreement with director Paul Verhoeven over the script. Verhoeven promptly hired Total Recall writer Gary Goldman to come up with some new scenes, most of which beefed up Michael Douglas's character and made him less wimpy. These changes were largely made at the behest of Douglas. It was during this later stage that Verhoeven realized his changes weren't going to work, so he publicly acknowledged his error and made up with Eszterhas (which Eszterhas admitted to be a rare thing in Hollywood). Problems reoccurred later when the script had been leaked, and the gay and lesbian communities had serious reservations about the depiction of lesbian and bisexual characters. Eszterhas wanted to make more changes to appease them, but Verhoeven point blank refused to incorporate these changes. Eszterhas again publicly distanced himself from the production, but once again reconciled with Verhoeven when the finished movie was praised by critics and homosexual communities alike.

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Goofs

The marks from Catherine's scratches can be see on Nick's back before she scratches him.

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Quotes

Capt. Talcott: Hey Nick!
Nick: What?
Capt. Talcott: Keep your three o'clock!
Nick: You want me to work the case!
Capt. Talcott: I SAID KEEP IT!
Nick: ALRIGHT! I'll keep it.

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Connections

Spoofed in Daai foo ji ga (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Rave The Rhythm"
Performed by Channel X
Written by Van Lierop, Praga Khan (as Khan) and Adams
Courtesy of Beat Box / Antler-Subway Records

User Reviews

Thriller which achieves screen magic of the golden age.

Paul Verhoeven has created a masterwork from Joe Eszterhas' controversial script. Several sex scenes become a leitmotif, as the participants appear to pummel, rather than love, one another with their nether parts. But the most rugged and the most erotic scene occurs between Detective Nick Curran, Michael Douglas, and his colleague, Beth Garner, portrayed by Jeanne Tripplehorn. He throws her against a wall and then against the back of a chesterfield. That is only the foreplay. In this film sex is violence, and that is Verhoeven's theme.

But there is more. Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell has a beautiful blonde form in that Beach Boy / California girl manner. She plays her 'flashing' scene in the police interrogation room with wit and a touch of class. Throughout the film she is arch, intelligent, electric. Her foil, Nick Curran, a troubled detective, realizes she might be a murderer, but finds her personality and her allure, irresistible. Douglas' performance is driven, masculine, affecting ... yet he would be well advised to keep his trousers on henceforth, for his sagging bottom is simply too comical.

There are several echoes of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (58). Both pictures have as a setting the picturesque San Francisco area. Jerry Goldsmith's music recalls Bernard Herrmann's symphonic score. The stairwell in Curran's apartment building resembles the vertiginous staircase of the Mission bell tower. And as with Hitchcock the dialogue is often simultaneously risque and humorous, although more vulgar in keeping with the tenor of modern times.

Eszterhas' script is carefully crafted, and it does not cheat. Life proves ambiguous at many levels, and so does art. The mystery is dark; the action, including a car chase, thrills; and the locale continually shifts, from a cop station to Catherine's lovely seaside house to a colorful bar where Catherine's jealous female lover and Curran engage in a sensual battle for her charms.

Day, night, sun, rain, streets, highways, scenery, ocean, sex, emotion, confrontations, death ... the film envelops everything, perhaps even love. Here, Verhoeven, Eszterhas, Douglas, Stone, have achieved some screen magic of the past.